Adventures of Trey
I stared at the large building surrounded by manicured lawns and cultivated trees. As a college freshman, I was nervous, excited and definitely scared. It seemed that I had just started high school, but already, here I was, staring at Building E on the University grounds at the beginning of September.
My parents wanted me to go to Yale or Harvard or something more prestigious, but I liked my small time town and I didn't want to move to far from it. The state University was far enough away that I could get a taste of freedom, but close enough so I could go home on the weekends.
I was studying Environmental Law, with a minor in International Law. Yeah, that's me. An overachiever.
Signing, I shakily made my way to the building and opened the door. Well, here it goes. It's all or nothing. I paused, considered running for the hills, but pulled myself together at the last second. I was an adult and I can do this. I took a deep breath and proceeded.
I weaved my way through the building, glancing at my registration card, trying to figure out which way the classroom numbers were running. I stopped in the middle of the hallway and was nearly trampled by the throng of students, pushing and shoving to find their way to their classes.
"Ouch!" I yelled, when I felt an elbow in the back. I spun around and was face to face with a tall, brooding black man. Boy. No, he definitely was a man. He was cute too.
"Shit!" he exclaimed. "I'm sorry, baby." He apologized. "You stopped short in front of me. Shit like that is liable to start a chain reaction. You should be more careful."
My face turned bright red from embarrassment. I stammered and pushed my brown hair out of my face.
"I'm sorry. I was trying to find my class and I stopped to look at this registration thingy…" I paused. "Sorry." I said again and turned away.
"Wait a minute." The guy said, grabbing my elbow. "You lost?"
"I don't think so…I know I am in the right building, but I can't find room," I glanced at the paper again, "212."
"That's because it's on the second floor." He said.
"Oh." Duh. That would make too much sense, now wouldn't it?
"I'll take you." He said, making a motion to follow him.
"I think I can find it okay now." I said, smiling politely and hiking my backpack higher on my shoulder.
"Whatever. See you around." The guy walked away with a distracted wave of his hand and I stared after him. I was debating if he was being rude or trying to be nice. Either way, I had to find my class and I did not want to be late for first college class ever.
I made my way up the stairs, to the left and gave myself a high-five for locating the room. 212. Yup, Creative Writing, 110. Giving a sign of relief, I walked into the classroom, found a seat in the front and self consciously pulled my texts, my note book and my pen from my bag, which I slid under my chair when I was done.
I nervously folded my hands in front of me and glanced around the room. Most of the students were upperclassmen because Creative Writing was an elective and wasn't really taken until the Junior or Senior year. I decided to take it early because I loved writing and if I had to take all the boring requirements for the next 2 years, I might as well take something fun.
Several minutes later a wiry man with glasses walked in and placed a briefcase on the desk. He straitened his tie and popped the locks. He withdrew a folder and set it aside. He cleared his throat a few time, it seemed to me out of nervousness. Maybe this was his first college class ever too.
"Okay, class, welcome to Creative Writing 110. My name is George Albright, author of ‘Peace of Mind' and ‘When in Rome…'" he cleared his throat again. "This is a full semester class, and is worth 3 credits towards your elective." He walked over and closing the door, and shutting out the noise. I began to relax. Maybe it won't be so bad after all.
"Let's begin with Roster." He pulled a slip of paper from the folder and sat in the chair. He clicked open his pen and started reading off the names. Halfway through the names, the classroom door opened and a student walked in. Of course. It had to be the same one who ran into me downstairs. And, as my luck would have it, the only seat was next to me.
"Sorry, sorry." He said to the teacher and the class, taking a seat next to me. He didn't even glance in my direction.
Mr. Albright continued his roll call. When he called, "Morgan Drake?" I raised my hand and said, "Here." The latecomer next to me answered the next name he called, "James Everett?"
"Here. But, uh, call me Trey. James is the family name; I probably won't answer to it."
"Noted, thank you Trey. Moving on." Mr. Albright said, and continued down the list. When he was finished calling all the names in the class he stood, and began speaking.
"We will have 3 projects this semester. All are small groups of 2 people, which I have already predetermined. If for some reason you cannot work with your partner, please see me and I will try and make an adjustment. However, it had better be a good reason." He paused and I thought that maybe this wasn't his first class teaching. He continued.
"I paired you up by last name. When I call your last name, please raise your hand and make note of your partner. Meaning, students last name Allen and Ammerman," He paused when the students raised their hands, "will be partners, etcetera. Next is…" The teacher moved through the list ticking off the pairs. I prayed that I didn't get stuck with macho man elbower. His last name was close to mine, and I couldn't remember if there was a person or two between us. I crossed my fingers.
"Drake, Everett." Shit. I glanced at Trey and gave a weak smile, raising my hand. He did the same and then looked over at me.
"Hey, it's the short stop girl," He said in a whisper.
"Yeah." I said back. I added, "Why didn't you tell me this was the class you were going to?"
"What, and ruin the surprise?" He laughed. "You didn't look like you wanted help, so I didn't offer any more."
"Well listen, I appreciate it and I wasn't trying to be mean." I lowered my voice. "But it looks like we are stuck for the semester, so, lets just try and get through it, okay?"
"Fine with me." Trey said, rummaging through his bag. "But how in the hell did you end up in this class? It's for upperclassmen."
"It's an elective. I needed something outside serious stuff to take." He only nodded and then turned his attention back to the teacher when he began to speak. 50 minutes later the class was over and I gathered my books and headed for the door. Trey stopped me as I exited.
"So, since we are partner and stuff, we should exchange information." I looked at him blankly. He continued. "Like, what is your cell phone number, which dorm are you in, and when can we schedule to start on this first project?"
"Oh. Well, I am in the East dorm, 3rd floor." I reached into my bag and pulled out a sheet of paper and a pen and scribbled my dorm phone number down. "This is the number for the room."
"Aight," Trey said, giving me his information as well. "I'll call and set something up." With that he walked away.
I sighed in frustration and moved my thoughts to the rest of the day. 4 more classes and then Track practice. Along with my heavy class load, I also decided that continuing Track was a good way to stay in shape, since my mother swore I would gain 10 pound in the first semester.
By 3:30 my mind was warped and stuffed with syllabuses, grading policies and points calculations. I returned to my dorm room, changed into my tracksuit and headed for the football field. I was looking forward to running today, but not to returning to do an armful of homework. I jogged over to the field as a warm up, regulating my breathing and concentrating on my flow.
I made my way onto the track, ran some sprints and drills, becoming more and more focused. On my last drill I turned around and ran backwards. This helped with my footwork and built the muscles in my thighs. I was intently engrossed in not falling when I ran into what felt like a brick wall.
"Ugh!" I said, losing my footing and falling flat on my ass. My hands broke my fall and I looked at the left one which was scraped.
"Man, you just don't quit." Trey stood over me, dressed in the schools football uniform. No wonder I felt like I hit a wall.
"Its you again." I said, standing up and dusting myself off. Of all the people.
